Re: Àorigins of klezmer tonality?

[Solidarity Foundation <svzandt...>]

On Thu, 25 Sep 1997 23:36:25 -0400 (EDT)
Stan T. wrote: 

> This is a naive question, but please allow for the fact that I'm not
> Jewish:

It's not a naive question, it's an intelligent question.

> Is the minor chord tonality and unique clarinet voicing that runs through
> klezmer related to Jewish religious (cantor) music in a way comparable to
the way Dixieland Jazz odten relates to Southern spiritual music? Or is it 
"an Eastern European thing," and as common in EU secular as in religious
> music?

Well, the question is quite complex, so I'll try to answer it by separating
out the components:

> Is the minor chord tonality

Traditional klezmer makes use of FOUR main modal scales, only one of which
is like the western harmonic minor. You will hear this one in the well-known
tune "Der Rebe Elimelekh," for example. Another mode that uses a minor
chord as tonic is sometimes known as "Misheberakh" -- this is the one you
hear, for example, in the first part of the typical Jewish doina, which is
related to the Oltenian doina of Romania.

There is also a mode related to the western major, often including 
melodically the minor seventh above the tonic. This you hear in a tune
like "Der Nayer Sher" or "Nokh a Bisl." In klezmer musical semantics,
these tunes often signal "Romania", and often go with Romanian-Jewish
dance rhythms like bulgars and sirbas.

Finally, what many consider the most Jewish of all, the mode known as
"Freygish", "Ukrainian Dorian", or "Ahava rabo", which is built on a
major scale in the tonic, but uses the chord of the lowered seventh, in
minor, as a dominant function -- in other words, if you are in D freygish,
the "dominant" is c minor.

For more information on these, and how to harmonize them, see Pete Sokoloff's
introduction to The Compleat Klezmer; for a more detailed treatment, see
A.Z. Idelsohn, _Jewish Music in Its Historical Development_.

> and unique clarinet voicing

As a violinist, I think it is only fair to point out that the famous
lead clarinet style identified with klezmer was originally developed on
the violin. Virtually all the older klezmer clarinet tunes "lie" very
well for the left hand of the violin. It's the later tunes, especially
those composed by Tarras, that start getting more specifically 
"clarinetistic." Anyway, yes, this style is extremely "vocal", particularly
heard in the characteristic "krekhts'n" (literally, "moans"), and slides
("portamento" in western terms) that are absolutely characteristic of
East European Jewish vocal style.

> related to religious (cantor) music

In a general sense, yes, but there are other religious vocal genres that
are even closer, namely, traditional _tfile_ (prayer) as in the _davenen_
(cantillation) of a traditional _bal-tfile_ (prayer-leader in a synagogue);
_zmires_ (sabbath songs, sung in a group), and certain kinds of Hasidic
_nigunim_ (melodies). These are closer to the roots of klezmer than 
_khazones_ (the cantorial art) is. However, there are cantors who used a
style (so-called "zoger" style) that is closer to the old _baley-tfile_.
I particularly recommend anything by the late Cantor Pierre Pintchik, who
was from Podolia, Ukraine. This has more of the aesthetic you hear in the
best traditional klezmer.

> in a way comparable to the way
Dixieland jazz often relates to Southern spiritual music?

Yeah, I think it's a fair analogy, taking into account what I've just
said above.

> Or is it "an Eastern European thing," and as common in EU secular as in
> religious music?

Extrememly complex question. You cannot say it's "an Eastern European thing,"
for the simple reason that Eastern European music is very diverse and there
are features in some kinds of Eastern European music that are not found in
klezmer at all. For example, listen to the modes and particularly the
harmonies in Transylvanian folk music. Quite different from klezmer. There
is a mode that is typical of the Carpathian region, like a major scale
with a raised fourth, that I don't believe I've ever heard in klezmer
music. There are any number of modes in Greek folk music that you don't
hear in klezmer. Most of the folk musics of Eastern Europe employ asymmetrical
metres like 5/8, 7/8, and others more complicated. Klezmer (with the
partial exception of the slow hora or zhok, but forget that, it's too
complicated a question) never uses such metres. The ornamentation and
rhythmic/metric feel of klezmer are indeed unique.

On the other hand, of course klezmer shares a larger number of features
with certain folk-musics, and these can be called its closest relatives:
I would say especially Eastern Romanian (Bessarabia, Bukovina, Moldavia);
western Ukrainian (kolomeyka's, etc.); and Greek. 

I forgot to mention above that if you want to hear how _tfile_, _zmiros_,
and Hasidic _nigunim_ are related to klezmer, I strongly recommend
getting a hold of "Like in a Different World: Leon Schwartz, a Traditional
Jewish Klezmer Violinist from Ukraine" (Global Village C-109).

Itzik-Leyb Volokh (Jeffrey Wollock)